Who is the orginal Genesis Bass Player?

I listen to Genesis starting at a real young, basically growing up with it. Now that I have some musical knowledge, Ive recently listen to there music again and it's incredicle!! The bass playing and the arrangements of the songs are awesome.

I was wondering who was the bass player orginaly for them and if possible what bass did he play. He gets a wonderful sound out of it?

I am almost certain that Mike Rutherford played on ALL the Genesis albums. They did have a different drummer in the beginning though. And isn't there an album called From Genesis to Revelation before Trespass?

I feel pretty certain too that he is pictured with a Rickenbacker 4001 on the back of the Live album from the early '70s (the one with "Watcher of the Skies", "Attack of the Giant Hogweed", etc.)...

I saw Genesis live in 1973 and a lot of the time he played guitar on double neck and the bass was pedals or keyboard bass....

It was quite disappointing from a bass-guitar-playing point of view - although a great live show - Chris Squire made a much bigger impression on me when I saw Yes live in 1974 - you could hear very bass line clearly - very out-front!

I have to disagree - I can't comment on the concert you saw, and he's definitely not a Chris Squire type player, but he has some really great basslines. More symphonic than most - his parts to me on the early stuff were really integral parts of the song, and often really active. He used distortion on several songs - "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" comes to mind - and I found the lines on "Watcher of the Skies" and "Apocalypse in 9/8" to be really inspiring.

Mike's doubleneck Rick was actually a 4 and 12. And yes there was an album called from Genesis to Revelation before Trespass, Mike's been the bassist all along. There's a great book called "I know What I Like" that has awesome pictures and the full history of the band, by Armando Gallo.

Mike Rutherford was a founder member of Genesis (along with Peter Gabriel & Tony Banks - they went to the same school).
Anyone who thinks he is less acomplished than Chris Squire should listen carefully to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway !!

I really like his sound on the "Genesis Live" album, and all of the early stuff for that matter. I especially like his sound on "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" album, which IMO was their masterpiece. I've seen a photo of him with a red Rick 4001; I don't know what he used amp-wise, but I'd sure like to know.
Mike also used a custom doubleneck made by Shergold that could be separated so it could be changed from a 4/6 to a 4/12. Somewhere along the line, he played an Alembic, but I believe this was after Phil Collins took on the front-man role. He also used a Fender Jazz on the 80's stuff.

If you really like early Genesis, try to to see the band Musical Box if they come near you. Recreations of the early tours down to a tee. Just saw them do the "Lamb" a couple months ago and was blown away. They have actually gotten access to the original 24 tracks to learn their parts better.

Mike Rutherford was a founder member of Genesis (along with Peter Gabriel & Tony Banks - they went to the same school).
Anyone who thinks he is less acomplished than Chris Squire should listen carefully to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway !!

Click to expand...

I'm not saying that he was a less accomplished player - just that seeing Genesis in 1973/4 - he wasn't playing any exciting bass lines and it was mostly synth pedals...

Whereas Chris Squire's bass lines were really exciting and really jumped out at you - they stood out as virtuosic and central to the music.

So - as a very young aspiring musician - Genesis made me think - nice tunes, wow great light show....

But when I saw Yes - I was thinking - great bass guitar playing - I want to be the one doing that!!

Mike has always been sort of my bass hero. I dont listen to genesis after then there were 3, but the stuff before that is some of the best music ever made.
Mike's playing is VERRY underrated, because it is hard to notice at times, but is very complicated and melodic at the same time. The song "Visions of Angels" on Trespass has some of the most intricate bass I know of as well as parts of Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot (DEFINITELY) and Selling England.
Me and my dad have discussions all the time about how good he is.

Mike Rutherford is one of my all time favs. He also played a Hagstrom 8 string on The Lamb. I saw the band twice back during the Seconds Out tour and also the Mama tour. Armando Gallo's book is a must for Genesis fans. He played the Shergold all the time on both of those shows, the necks were interchangeable to accomodate different open tunings but only the guitar half. The bass half was essentially a precision.

I really like his sound on the "Genesis Live" album, and all of the early stuff for that matter. I especially like his sound on "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" album, which IMO was their masterpiece. I've seen a photo of him with a red Rick 4001; I don't know what he used amp-wise, but I'd sure like to know.
Mike also used a custom doubleneck made by Shergold that could be separated so it could be changed from a 4/6 to a 4/12. Somewhere along the line, he played an Alembic, but I believe this was after Phil Collins took on the front-man role. He also used a Fender Jazz on the 80's stuff.

-Art

Click to expand...

I just got copys of some very cool DVD's of Genesis circa 1971-1974. The clips are from TV shows and live concert footage. GREAT stuff!! Mike plays a Fireglo Ric that is NOT a 4001. Has dot position markers, no body binding, and two old style knobs like you find on old Hiwatt amps. WHICH there are lots of Hiwatts on stage in a few of the clips, cabs and amps. In another clip, Mike is playing a doubleneck Ric 12/4. And, he plays guitar quite a bit and Taurus pedals. Oh so 70's progressive!! I love it!! And, in one clip, Mike has an Acoustic folded horn cab onstage, too. As opposed to Chris Squire, Mike plays with his fingers as much as he does with a pick in these videos. Seems more versatile to me. The sound quality of these DVD's vary, but most of it is very good! And the bass is completley noticeable. In fact, I am about to go downstairs and watch once again!!!

I just got copys of some very cool DVD's of Genesis circa 1971-1974. The clips are from TV shows and live concert footage. GREAT stuff!! Mike plays a Fireglo Ric that is NOT a 4001. Has dot position markers, no body binding, and two old style knobs like you find on old Hiwatt amps. WHICH there are lots of Hiwatts on stage in a few of the clips, cabs and amps. In another clip, Mike is playing a doubleneck Ric 12/4. And, he plays guitar quite a bit and Taurus pedals. Oh so 70's progressive!! I love it!! And, in one clip, Mike has an Acoustic folded horn cab onstage, too. As opposed to Chris Squire, Mike plays with his fingers as much as he does with a pick in these videos. Seems more versatile to me. The sound quality of these DVD's vary, but most of it is very good! And the bass is completley noticeable. In fact, I am about to go downstairs and watch once again!!!

Mike has always been sort of my bass hero. I dont listen to genesis after then there were 3, but the stuff before that is some of the best music ever made.
Mike's playing is VERRY underrated, because it is hard to notice at times, but is very complicated and melodic at the same time. The song "Visions of Angels" on Trespass has some of the most intricate bass I know of as well as parts of Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot (DEFINITELY) and Selling England.
Me and my dad have discussions all the time about how good he is.